Indomitus Ferus
by Timballisto
Summary: Harry is raised by the warriors of the forest, the Tikkani Wolf Tribe. This is Harry. Wild, ferochious, untamed. Ready for anything.


**Indomitus Ferus- Untamed Wild**

Albus Dumbledore stood outside the gates of Hogwarts, glancing ever so often at the pocket watch he kept stowed in the deep sleeves of his star spangled robes. His beard was long and white; so long that in fact he had it tucked into his belt to keep from treading on it. A pair of half-moon spectacles was perched on a long crooked nose that looked like it had been broken at one time.

Next to him, a stern faced witch fidgeted impatiently. She was tall (though not as tall as the towering man beside her) and slim, and her mouth was a thin slash, so much so that her lips weren't visible. Her hair was brown with gray streaks and put up in a tight bun, almost military like.

Albus Dumbledore turned to the impatient witch, blue eyes twinkling like an old grandfather. "Patience Minerva, Hagrid will arrive soon."

Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts glared at the benignly smiling form of Dumbledore.

"You know very well that Hagrid has nothing to do with it Albus!" McGonagall said primly, glaring at the stubbornly untroubled face of the Headmaster. "Your intending to give him, not to wizards or even to his dreadful relatives, but to the-"

The tirade that McGonagall was launching against the old man was drowned out by the roar of motorcycle engines. Glad that she had set up silencing charms on the wizarding village of Hogsmead, McGonagall followed the long strides of the Headmaster. With a thump, Hagrid touched down on Main Street, coming to a humming stop right beside the two teachers. With a final clank, the shuddering, roaring engine of the motorbike came to a halt.

With a groan, the gigantic figure hauled itself off the bike, cradling a blue bundle of blankets.

"Ah, Hagrid, everything went smoothly I'll take it?"

"Yes sir." The kind beetle black eyes smiled down at the babe in his arms through a bushy black beard. "'E fell asleep somewhere over Bristol Professor."

Dumbledore carefully relieved the giant of a man of his burden, cradling the child with such care that if Minerva didn't know better, he was holding his own grandson. Minerva peered over the tall shoulder at the sleeping face of Harry Potter. His tuft of black hair was partially covering an inflamed lightning bolt scar.

"Is that where-?"

"Yes Minerva." Albus's voice was soft so he didn't wake his charge. "I've called a meeting with Harry's new caretakers." Albus said as he turned back towards the big black gates of his school, Minerva and Hagrid following behind, Hagrid pushing his bike along. "They should be waiting for us at the edge of the forest."

"Are ya' sure this is a good idea sir?" Hagrid looked worried. "They aren't that particular to wizard folk."

"I know Hagrid." Dumbledore's voice was calm. "But they find themselves in an irrevocable quandary of a life debt. After all, I was the one who managed to install them in the forest to begin with."

"How will we know if they won't dump Harry in the lake the second you turn your back?" McGonagall's voice was trembling with anger.

"Life debts are irrevocable." Albus replied airily. "If you do not repay it before you die, in lore at least, your own life is forfeited and you are cursed to come back as a ghost. The herd is very superstitious that way." Minerva remained unconvinced and, as they came closer to the forest, more worried.

Finally the trio found themselves in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, the crescent moon shining dimly through the leafy topiary.

"Firenze," Dumbledore stepped forward. "Ronan, Bane."

Out of the shadows of the forest came three centaurs, men from the waist up and horses from the hips down. One of them, black in hair and body, pawed the ground angrily.

"What is it Dumbledore?" he was more wild looking than his companions. "It is enough that we owe a _wizard_," the centaur spat the word like a curse. "a life debt, now you humiliate us by bringing others?"

"Peace Bane," a centaur with red hair and beard and a chestnut body placed a calming hand on the black haired centaur's forearm. "Let the man speak." His voice was dreamy, as if he wasn't really paying attention.

"What is it that you want Dumbledore?" the last centaur spoke softly, his blue eyes shining in the moonlight. His hair was so blonde it was white and he had a palomino body. "I would not try Bane, or Ronan's patience overmuch."

Dumbledore bowed slightly. "Yes Firenze that would be wise. I will not waste anymore of your time." Dumbledore deftly unraveled the swaddling clothes that wrapped little Harry up against the nip in the cool dark air. "I need this boy to be protected and hidden from anyone who would do him harm."

Bane's face twisted. "Are you asking to take a human as one of our own?" the centaur's voice was filled with dark anger. "Would you ask us to do such a thing?"

Ronan simply looked up and said, in his dreamy voice, "Saturn is bright tonight Bane, do not fight the stars."

Firenze looked thoughtfully at the young Harry Potter. "We cannot take him Albus, we are merely the watchers of the universe, the observers of the cosmos."

Dumbledore's eyebrow went up a fraction of an inch. "You owe me a life debt."

Firenze nodded in acknowledgement. "As I said, we cannot take him, but there are others." Firenze turned to the fuming Bane. "Would Amak take him?"

Bane snorted and pawed the ground impatiently. "He is one of the warriors of the forest, if he has any sense-"

"He will take the human." Ronan's voice was more real now. "Amak's pack is small and is in need of new blood. When the human crosses the territory line, he becomes one of the pack members, in body and mind. It is part of the old magic of the forest."

"As long as the human stays out of our lands," Bane muttered, his anger defused by Ronan's suggestion. "I see no problem with this course."

Firenze gently took the boy from the Headmaster and cradled the small body against his chest. "He will need to return to Hogwarts when he turns eleven." Dumbledore said quietly. "There is much he needs to prepare for."

Firenze frowned at the Headmaster."In the forest, creatures come of age at 12 summers. I am afraid he would not be able to leave before then. The forest keeps it's own."

Dumbledore nodded grimly. "When the boy is twelve then."

The centaurs nodded, then wheeled around and cantered back into their leafy haven.

Firenze galloped through the green undergrowth of the forest, careful to keep from jostling the small human cradled in his arms. Ronan and Bane had split off to spread the news among the herd, making no effort to help him get the babe to Amak.

As Firenze bounded across a small meadow, he could feel the magical barrier humming just in front of him, splitting the moonlit meadow in two. He had reached the innermost part of the forest, a place so magical, the air was saturated with it. As he neared, a long howl sounded just beyond the far stand of trees, its sorrowful tones breaking through the calm night.

"Amak!" (1) Firenze called out. "It is I, Firenze of the Centaurs." The howling broke off and a group of shadowy forms broke from the cover of the trees. Yellow eyes glinted in the light of the moon and as the forms moved into the light of the moon, three wolves were revealed. The leader of the small pack was a grey timber wolf, in his prime with a long tail held erect and alert ears. Close behind him stood a she-wolf with russet fur and a large belly, presumably she was pregnant. And last, an ancient grey wolf so old his whole muzzle was white and his amber eyes were rheumy with age.

"Firenze." The wolf addressed as Amak stepped forward, his amber eyes sharp on the centaur. "What are you doing here at such a late hour?"

Firenze gently placed the bundle in his arms on the ground and as close to the line of magic.

"A human!" Amak drew back, growling. "Why do you bring one of his kind here, when they have driven us from every other sanctuary? Is this how the centaur treats with allies?"

"Peace Amak." The old wolf stepped forward, and sniffed daintily at the blue bundle of clothes in his arms. "This one is barely a cub, a newborn in wolf years."

"Newborns grow Injuquaq!" (2) Amak growled at the old wolf. "They grow into men who destroy and kill us for our skins!"

"Perhaps not if we raised him as one of us Amak," Injuquaq said softly, looking down at the child. "then we would have someone to protect the Tikaani tribe." (3)

Amak snorted, but did not refute the old wolf's words.

"Will you take him?" Firenze voice was soft.

"Yakone?" (4)Amak turned to the she-wolf who was sitting on her haunches.

Yakone stood and quietly trotted over to the bundle. When she saw the young face of Harry Potter she smiled a charming wolf smile, tongue lolling out of her mouth. "He would make a perfect son." She said simply, licking the sleeping face of Harry.

"You agree to take him into your pack then?"

Amak looked undecided for a moment before nodding. "As alpha I accept him into the Tikaani tribe." Without further ado, Amak grabbed the edge of the blanket and dragged him across the territory line. There was a shifting in the blanket and when the blanket was overturned, not a human child rolled out, but a small black wolf cub with a white fluff of fur where his scar used to be.

"Come." Amak and Injuquaq turned to leave; leaving Yakone grabbed the sleeping cub by the scruff of the neck and carried him deep into the Forbidden Forest.

Amak- literally, leader wolf

Injuquaq-lit. old man

Tikaani Tribe- lit. wolf tribe

Yakone-lit. red aurora


End file.
